


I know a pool where the waters cool

by harinezumiko



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Background Seiko/Asuka, Fishing, Food, Gen, Holidays, confused wlw feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27807535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harinezumiko/pseuds/harinezumiko
Summary: On a rare break in Scotland, Asuka works through her feelings for her new girlfriend with the help of a new hobby.
Relationships: Tenjouin Asuka | Alexis Rhodes & Kajiki Ryouta | Mako Tsunami
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! It's Time to G-G-G-Gift! [Mini-Exchange]





	I know a pool where the waters cool

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hyperionnebulae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyperionnebulae/gifts).



> For Kes, as part of the YGO Mini-Exchange. When I saw these prompts it was like they were tailor made for me and I had to combine a couple... I'm really sad I didn't have enough writing time to do them justice. I wanted to do something awesome because of that and because it's for you but... anyway... I hope you find something in here to enjoy ^^ Thank you for your friendship and encouragement!

_Dear Seiko,_

_As you can see from the picture, I left Durham and am now "north of the border" in Eyemouth! I planned to go straight to Edinburgh but the train was stopped in Berwick-upon-Tweed and the others after it were cancelled... so I caught a bus to this lovely little harbour town. I found a place that does ice cream and fish and chips. I'm writing over a delicious chocolate sundae._

* * *

Asuka helped herself to another spoonful of soft gelato and hot chocolate sauce. She closed her eyes in bliss as it melted on her tongue, then opened them again to stare at the postcard, its blank space already filled despite the neatness of her handwriting. She squeezed a small "I miss you. Asuka" into the gap at the short edge.

She stared at the addition. Was it too much? They'd only been dating a few weeks, but it was... good. Seiko was optimistic, enterprising, modest to a fault, and cutely affectionate. Asuka liked her very much but something always held her back from saying so. In that case... was it too little?

Asuka sighed and got stuck back in to her sundae, plunging the depths for brownie pieces. Chocolate needed a lot less thought.

The strident sound of bagpipes started up in the distance. Asuka had to laugh. She had been in Scotland maybe half an hour and already the traditional instrument was making its presence loudly known.

Within a few minutes the cafe had visibly emptied, and its customers lined the streets. Not a dozen deep like a festival back home, but patchy and straggly, some observers wearing put-upon expressions as though they had better places to be.

"Is something happening today?" Asuka asked the man behind the counter.

"It's the Herring Queen," he replied. "The procession'll be coming through town soon. Skip to the harbour and you might just catch the boats coming in."

"Thank you!" said Asuka, picking up the postcard and her rucksack. It bounced on her back as she hurried down the streets towards the harbour.

The crowd was thicker on the stone walls, mainly families with young children. It seemed there were few tourists like Asuka.

A lifeboat was already in, performing a turn in the harbour with a blow of its horn that drowned out the bagpipes for a second. It was July but the weather was still chilly. The five girls in prom dresses on the prow didn't shiver, though, their bare arms pale as they waved awkwardly and smiled. Bunting fluttered behind them, bright against the grey water. Asuka waved back, tentatively.

The bagpipes stopped as the boat turned to dock. The crowd seemed split between watching the other boats come in behind, and watching the girls lift up their skirts and hike up the wet harbour steps in heels, heads bowed to watch their step.

"Where do I find the Queen Herring?"

Asuka heard the voice behind her, speaking English but accented in a similar way to her own, and turned out of curiosity. He looked familiar, long bushy black hair barely kept in check by a headband at the front and hair tie at the back, and a deep scar sat over his left cheek.

"She's joining the procession now, see?" A local pointed to where the girls, accompanied by younger boys in blue fisherman outfits and girls with colourful flowers, were doing their best to walk elegantly across the harbour car park towards the waiting tent.

The man followed his finger, disappointment fighting a battle with hope on his brow, and asked again. "And the herring?"

The local scratched his beard. "Well, I guess you could see the skipper of Minna Troil... She got the biggest catch this week, but it'll all be sold now... and no-one's out today, on account of the festival..."

Asuka stepped forward with a smile, the conversation having triggered her memory. "Kajiki-san? Hello, I'm a fan!"

Kajiki turned to Asuka, surprised for a moment, before a wide grin split across his face. The local man took the opportunity to extricate himself from the conversation with the weird foreigner, ambling over towards the ceremonial tent.

"A fan? How interesting! Of my exploration or of my dueling?"

"Your dueling," said Asuka. "I teach at Duel Academia, and often use your matches as an example of good sportsmanship."

Kajiki laughed, loudly and freely. "That's more than this old man deserves. A teacher, you say? You must be a solid duelist yourself, then."

Asuka straightened with pride. "I try to keep my hand in. I have to enter the League every few years, anyway, to prove to the Board I'm good enough. Tenjoin Asuka, pleased to meet you."

"Tenjoin-san?" Kajiki rubbed his chin. "I recall the name... I don't compete any more, you know, and I rarely get to see matches since I'm at sea so often, but I try to catch up now and again. What was it... Cyber... Cyber something..."

"Cyber angels," Asuka supplied helpfully, more than happy that a legendary duelist knew even that much of her.

"Ah, yes!" Kajiki clapped his hands together. "What brings you here, Tenjoin-san?"

"Asuka, please," said Asuka. "I have a week off, and decided to travel. I get field trips with the school, of course, and some league matches abroad, but they're so regimented I never get to see anything of the country. I'm heading to Edinburgh. How about you?"

"I received a tip, about a mysterious serpent in the Scottish waters. I thought I was onto something with this Herring Queen but it seems I must continue my search."

He didn't look too down about it any more, Asuka thought. Perhaps she'd cheered him up, or perhaps he was one of those people to whom the journey was more important than the end point.

"I can take you on to Edinburgh, if you'd like? I've chartered a boat. She's small, but it's not a long journey."

* * *

_Dear Seiko,_

_I'm sorry if my handwriting is worse than usual - I'm at sea! I bumped into Kajiki Ryota - I don't know if you've heard of him, he's semi-retired - and he took me on his boat! Don't worry, duelists talk, and he has a solid reputation. He's busy sailing, and I get to see the coastline. On to Edinburgh!_

_Yours, Asuka_

* * *

The wind whipped at Asuka's hair, salt spray spreading the ink on the postcard. It would be best not to send that one, she thought. Again, she stared at the sign-off for a moment before tucking the card back inside her rucksack.

"Asuka-san! Look to starboard!" Kajiki shouted over the noise of the engine. Asuka looked to her left, then to her right. It took a while to recognise, grey against grey water, but eventually she spotted a roundish blob sticking out of the water. As she watched it nose through the water towards them, she could make out two black eyes and long white whiskers. The seal turned smoothly, rolling away under the water once more.

"It's so cute!" shouted Asuka. "Is it usual to see them round here?"

"Oh, yes." Kajiki cut the engine and dropped a cone of orange fabric in the water, spooling the attached rope out after it. "Orca, too, sometimes. People ask if I'm lonely out here, but I always have company."

Asuka watched the seal return, playing among the waves. She fished her phone out of her pocket to take a video. Kajiki disappeared inside the cabin, returning after just a moment with a box of clear plastic ziploc bags. Asuka took one with thanks and sealed her phone inside before hitting the record button once more.

"I think I'm beginning to understand the appeal," said Asuka. It was easy out on the water to clear the muddle in her head, to forget the responsibilities that waited on her back at school. "I had a friend who took up fishing and I'd always wondered why. It didn't seem to suit him, but maybe that was the whole point."

"Another duelist?" When Asuka nodded, Kajiki asked with interest, "anyone I might have heard of?"

"I doubt it." The seal slipped back under the water, as elusive as the friend in question had become. For all he'd done, Judai had become a cipher - a name whispered in the wind, his bright future exchanged for shadowy duty. He'd seemed happier, though, the last time Asuka had seen him, appearing and disappearing at the speed of thought.

"My gear's all here, if you'd like to have a go yourself?" Kajiki held out a rod with a hopeful grin.

* * *

_My dear Seiko,_

_I caught a fish! Just a small mackerel, and I had a lot of help from Kajiki-san. He took a photo of me with it before I threw it back. You'll laugh - my hair is all over the place and I'm grinning like a fool. Would you mind having a girlfriend who fishes? I could go out and catch dinner for us, and you could cook it..._

* * *

We could even start a small restaurant, thought Asuka with a wry smile. The teachers didn't always manage to make it to the cafeteria for lunch. A small fish-fry delivery service could supplement her and Seiko's income nicely.

It had felt almost strange to be back on land again after just a few hours at sea. As she lay on the soft hotel bed, if she closed her eyes Asuka could feel the rocking of the waves.

Kajiki was also stopping in Edinburgh for the night before sailing on to Inverness in the morning. He'd offered to take Asuka with him, and teach her more on the lake, but she'd stuck to her itinerary - two nights in Edinburgh, then back to London ahead of the flight home. She could do some souvenir shopping in the old town, see the castle on the hill, and at some point she had to try some whisky.

The more she lay there though, feeling the phantom motions of the sea, the more those things felt more like expectations than desires.

* * *

_💖 Seiko 💖_

_They have a saying here, that travel broadens the mind. I don't know if that's true, but I found myself running for the boat at 5 am, sailing past Aberdeen at 8, and now I'm sat by a Scottish loch watching a man I just met trying to determine the appropriate bait for a probably fictional creature. Am I no longer the reliable Asuka you fell for? You did fall for me, right?_

_\- Asuka, still falling_

* * *

"There's no way this will work, you know," laughed Asuka, watching Kajiki set up the rod, pitifully small against the deep loch and the highlands behind. "If it was so simple, someone would have done it by now."

"Ah," Kajiki winked, "but they didn't have this on their side."

Propped up on his tackle box in a rugged case was a small piece of plastic-coated card. A five-star effect monster, outdated in the game, but clearly much cherished by its owner.

Asuka thought for a moment, and then pulled out her deck to flick through it. One sealed ziploc later, she set it up next to The Legendary Fisherman. "He has a ritual weapon now. It can't hurt, right?"

"Right!" Kajiki grinned and gave Asuka a fist bump before they each took up a rod.

* * *

_My darling Seiko,_

_I'm coming home tomorrow. I know it's only been a few days but I missed you so much! When I see you at the airport dont hold me responsible for my actions, ok?_

_Love, Asuka_

_p.s. Nessie has more teeth than the postcards suggested..._

**Author's Note:**

> As this is a giftfic, criticism is not sought at this time. Title taken from The Call of the Stream by Charles H. Crandall.


End file.
